


Giving Up a Chance

by cometothedorkside



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Assassination Plot(s), Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Bucky Barnes & Peggy Carter Friendship, Canon Compliant, Captain America: The Winter Soldier Spoilers, Established Relationship, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Howard Stark (mentioned) - Freeform, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra Bucky Barnes, Implied/Referenced Terrorism, Minor Original Character(s), Peggy as Director of SHIELD, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Endgame, Relationship(s), SHIELD, Sad and Sweet, Sokovia (Marvel), Steve Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, director peggy carter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-17 22:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21517210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cometothedorkside/pseuds/cometothedorkside
Summary: "Steve, if you do this, you may never have a chance to find him again. It took so much luck to find Bucky this time," Peggy said, with tears in her eyes."I...I know," he whimpered in answer.This is a piece I wrote to address the valid complaint that Steve didn't save Bucky in the past. Rated teen because of minor character death and mentions of terrorism and assassinations. Enjoy!
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peggy Carter, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Kudos: 8





	Giving Up a Chance

"Steve, if you do this, you may never have a chance to find him again. It took so much luck to find Bucky this time," Peggy said, with tears in her eyes.  
"I...I know," he whimpered in answer.  
Every day Peggy swore she loved him more. She had been so shocked when he'd said that not only was Bucky still alive, but he was being used as an assassin. And now, Steve had the chance to rescue him from everything.  
But he was giving up that chance.  
The newly founded SHIELD had found out through a whistleblower that Bucky was in Sokovia to assassinate a government official. The whistleblower had been silent since giving them that information. It was safe to say he'd been killed for tipping SHIELD off. Peggy and Steve had gone to Sokovia themselves to try to stop him from making any more kills in the name of Hydra. Steve had said that Bucky seeing people from his past had helped him escape from Hydra's grip in the future. This had been their best chance, a one in a million shot to get Bucky out of hell before things got any worse.  
\--  
The married couple drove through a forest. The feeling of speeding off to a mission was reminiscent of the days of the war. With every second, they got closer to rescuing a close friend from his torturous existence. But before they could get to the coordinates where Bucky was supposed to be, the communicator garbled with speech.  
"New information...There is to be a terrorist attack in Sokovia in the city of Novi Grad. Multiple bombs will be set off in 2 hours and--" The heavily accented voice of the whistleblower cut off abruptly and the sound of a gunshot was heard. The whistleblower was undoubtedly dead now.  
"Steve, what are we going to do? We don't have time to call in any more agents, the next best thing would be to get Howard to fly someone--"  
Peggy's husband cut her off.  
"We'll stop the terrorist attack ourselves. That's what we'll do," Steve commanded.  
"Let me remind you that I am the director of SHIElD and the decision is ultimately mine," Peggy exclaimed, "and I think that we should call Howard,"  
"You and I both know that we have a choice. We can stop either the assassination or the terrorist attack. And--" his voice broke--"we need to stop the terrorist attack. Innocent civilians will die if we don't."  
"Steve, if you do this, you may never have a chance to find him again. It took so much luck to find Bucky this time," Peggy said, with tears in her eyes.  
"I...I know," he whimpered in answer.  
Peggy shifted the car's route toward Novi Grad as the two lifelong fighters cried silently. Countless hours of interrogations, research, and stakeouts had been clocked in the effort to free their friend. They had battled so long for a chance to save Bucky, and it came to naught. But how could they choose to save his life when thousands were now at risk?  
\--  
As soon as Steve and Peggy arrived in Novi Grad, they jumped into action. Their previous dilemma was temporarily pushed to the backs of their minds. Steve dashed throughout the city without breaking a sweat as he found bombs and brought them to Peggy to diffuse. His thoughts of Bucky kept threatening to make him emotional, but he pushed them away to focus on the task at hand. Whenever Peggy had spare seconds in between diffusions, she was lost to her thoughts. She couldn't believe that Steve had been forced to choose between his childhood best friend and innocent civilians. It broke her heart that no matter which choice they had made, they would be filled with regret for years to come.  
As the last bomb was diffused, Peggy wasn't filled with the sense of relief and satisfaction that usually accompanied a finished mission. She knew that whatever sorrow she was feeling, Steve would be feeling much worse. Bucky had been one of the first things he had brought up when he had returned to her from the future.  
"I'll handle the mission report on this one, love. I know you made a hard choice today," Peggy told her husband with tears in her eyes.  
"I...I guess I thought I could have it all. I wanted to come back to you and save him. I envisioned an existence that I don't think is possible. I don't...don't think it's possible to rescue him since he was freed from Hydra in the future. But I don't want to think about how long he'll have to hurt and destroy and kill for them. I thought I could stop it," he wept in her ear.  
Peggy pulled back and looked him in the eyes.  
"You are not wrong for wanting to save your friend," she insisted, "You are admirable for working so hard for so long to help Bucky. But...I can't help but think you're right about how the events of the future might be preventing us from saving him now. I'm not going to pretend to know how any of this works, but what you said appears accurate. For what it's worth, I'm proud of you,"  
Steve responded by wrapping her in his arms and sobbing. They held on to each other for a long time before speaking again.  
\--  
It wore on Steve Rogers that he couldn't change the future. It wasn't an easy burden to bear, and he had many regrets. But, over time came the acceptance that he couldn't change some things. He tried his best to focus on all the things he did change. He had stopped several terrorist attacks, kept Hydra from controlling SHIELD (at least until Peggy was no longer director), and saved the lives of his friends. One thing he would never regret is his relationship with the incomparable Peggy Carter. She and their children were the lights of his life.  
"Peg?"  
"Mmm?"  
"Thank you for saying you're proud of me in Sokovia. That means more than you know. I love you,"  
"I love you too, darling,"  
And with that, Peggy pulled her husband into a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked my first attempt at fanfiction! Thank you so much for reading it!


End file.
